Exchange 2010 - unified messaging in the Cloud

Microsoft officially released the new version of its enterprise email server Exchange Server 2010. It's desktop client Outlook 2010 will appear only next year together with other Office 2010 applications. What is the most interesting about Exchange 2010? First, thanks to Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 (details here), and some new features in the new version, Exchange 2010 is now completely adopted for the cloud deployment. Of course, Hosted Exchange 2007 has been already provided for some years, but the latest version is much more secure, reliable and suitable for administration, when installed on the remote server (or in data-center).

Second, the Exchange web client (Outlook Web Access) was fully revamped. BTW it's now called Outlook Web App. We already mentioned about its new GMail-like features, but the most interesting that it's positioned now not just as email client, but as unified messaging client. It can support not just emails, but also sms, IM messages and voicemail (if Office Communications Server 2007 R2 is installed). Outlook Web App optimized for all browsers (except Chrome) and works on mobile devices.

Other important updates include enhanced spam protection (beta users report of fantastic 70% spam reduction in Inbox), inbuilt email archiving system and enhanced database. Exchange 2010 works only on 64-bit platforms. Together with Exchange 2010, its security infrastructure Forefront Protection 2010 has been released.

See also: Top 10 Email services